Freethought-Now
We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation are focusing on an egregious theocratic Trump administration-organized event this Sunday — though not at the cost of ignoring other matters.
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor has had an op-ed decrying the faith-ful shindig published in the prestigious publication The Hill.
“The White House is inexcusably busy encouraging prayer through multiple initiatives that breach the constitutional wall separating church and state,” her piece begins. “It has launched an ‘America Prays’ campaign as part of our country’s 250th celebration and is also turning May 17 into an all-day prayer fest on the National Mall.”
The Associated Press has prominently featured our critique in a national story.
“The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, hopes to stage a demonstration elsewhere in Washington on the day of the rally,” says the article. “‘This is the government putting on a Christian nationalist event,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the foundation’s co-president. “Even if it is accepting private money for it, it’s still putting it on. It’s outrageous.’”
We indeed are organizing a peaceful protest with traffic-stopping optics alongside a group of progressive Christians called Faithful America who believe in state/church separation. The counterprotest will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern on 3rd Street between Jefferson and Madison in D.C. If you live close enough to commute, please join us!
FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott has lots of fun eviscerating the Trumpian prayer fest.
“This Sunday, May 17, top Trump administration officials will be speaking on the National Mall as part of the ‘Rededicate 250’ prayer and worship event,” a recent blog of his opens. “Pastors and politicians will join together to promote a revisionist narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation and must be ‘rededicated’ to that identity. For anyone tuning in on Sunday, buckle up. You are about to be buried under a metric ton of bullcrap.”
We have also taken to task several Trump cabinet officials, many of whom are speaking at the all-day revival, for releasing slick social media videos endorsing the Christian nationalist event.
A theocratic archery coach
We possessed the bandwidth to call attention to other unconstitutional events, and when we did so in a school district quite a bit south of the nation’s capital, the leading alternative paper in Arkansas wrote an extensive piece on it.
“A group that tries to maintain the separation between church and state, as hard as that is today, has sent a letter to a Jonesboro school district complaining that an archery coach is leading students in prayer – an act they say is unconstitutional,” says a feature on the Arkansas Times webpage. “The letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation — (yes, the one that former President Ronald Reagan’s son, Ron, used to speak for on late-night TV ads) — dated May 4 was sent to Valley View Superintendent Roland Popejoy.”
The piece name-checks two of our attorneys, Sammi Lawrence and Chris Line, and also mentions a recent legal victory of ours in the Razorback State.
A monumentally religious arch
Alas, the National Mall prayer fest is not the only objectionable move the Trump administration is engaging in. We are also strongly objecting to the religious messaging (“In God We Trust”) and symbolism on a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch in D.C. “Combining explicit religious language with national symbolism sends a dangerous message that belief in God is tied to patriotism and American identity,” says Annie Laurie.
A problematic counterterrorism strategy
Additionally, we have expressed concern over the deeply authoritarian and unconstitutional language contained in the Trump administration’s newly released 2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy. It pinpoints secular political groups, transgender advocacy and anti-fascist political activism as potential terrorists while promising aggressive government action against organizations deemed “anti-American” or “radically pro-transgender.” Americans should be deeply disturbed by such a counterterrorism strategy.
Americans oppose religious meddling in politics
On a more positive note, we are pleased to report that a new Pew Research Center survey offers an encouraging reminder of the widespread acceptance of our secular governmental setup. Despite the growing noise of Christian nationalism in American politics, most Americans still reject the idea of churches controlling government or politicians using religion to wield power.
No baptisms of inmates!
We are urging the Drew County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas to immediately stop encouraging or coercing inmates to undergo baptisms. “It is egregious and unacceptable that a sheriff would arrange Christian baptisms for inmates, using the sheriff’s department transportation, time and staff to take them from the prison to the sheriff’s church of choice,” says Annie Laurie.
A theocratic Texas state rep.
Our legislative arm is keeping a close watch on statehouses nationwide. That’s why the FFRF Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is Texas state Rep. Brent Money, who believes his role as a public official is “to do what God wants me to do” rather than the will of his constituents. The Action Fund is urging Money to fulfill the true responsibilities of public office by upholding the will of his constituents, not his personal religious beliefs.
Secular R.I. legislators
And the Action Fund honors a group of Rhode Island legislators who sponsored a resolution to recognize May 6 as the Rhode Island Day of Reason as its “Secularists of the Week.” With Christian nationalists working across the country to erase the American history of state/church separation, efforts like these are crucial to preserving secular governance rooted in reason.
The killers of Roe
Our media offerings this week offered glimpses into nefarious forces at work here and abroad.
After reporting alarming Christian nationalist news, Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor spoke with Amy Littlefield, author of “Killers of Roe: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights.”
The role of the pope and the Church in Argentine repression
And I interviewed for my Madison community radio station global affairs show St. Thomas University Professor Karen Robert on the appalling repression during the 1970s and the 1980s in Argentina under the military regime — including the roles that Pope Francis (then the head of Jesuits in the country) and the Catholic Church played.
With your generous support, we are able to highlight and counter religion’s harmful role around the world.
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